Let Girls Be Girls update from Mumsnet

Mumsnet’s Let Girls Be Girls campaign asks retailers to commit not to sell products which play upon, exploit or emphasise children’s sexuality, and so far we’ve had great success in persuading many high-street retailers to sign up.

In October the campaign will have been active for six months, and we plan to carry out an ‘audit’ to assess how effective it’s been. We’ll be asking Mumsnetters to report back on whether those retailers who’ve signed up are sticking to the spirit of the campaign – and we’ll be putting renewed pressure on those retailers who haven’t yet signed, to get on board.

We also recently canvassed opinion on our talk boards about whether Mumnsetters would be in favour of extending the Let Girls Be Girls campaign to tackle how and where ‘lad mags’ are displayed – a regular issue on Mumsnet. Many parents are dismayed that their children are exposed to sexualised images on the covers of these magazines and those of tabloids like the Daily Sport, and are concerned that the effect on children is to normalise the objectification of women’s bodies.

Overall, Mumsnetters responded very positively to the idea – here are just a few of the supportive comments:
“I really don’t want to have to explain to my 5 yr old, as I had to the other day, why the woman on the cover had taped up nipples, boobs out and was wearing a school skirt.”

“I hate, hate, hate seeing this crap when I go to the Co-op with my kids, just above the Charlie and Lola mags.”

“I don’t want my sons growing up thinking that this is an acceptable way to think of women… In the late 80s, early 90s, that sort of thing was so not OK – it seems like we’ve regressed about 30 years.”

We hope to have some news next month about this possible next phase of the Let Girls Be Girls campaign.